Street Date: David Cook Performs LIVE, Playing Selections From New Album “This Loud Morning”

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[pullquote quote=”The themes that permeate this record are: Love and Loss.” credit=”David Cook, on This Loud Morning”]He will forever be linked to the show that gave him his big break, but [lastfm]David Cook[/lastfm] isn’t trying to run from his American Idol past. Instead, the winner of that show’s seventh season embraces his past and continues to connect with the fan base who voted him to the top. From his first post-Idol release (2008’s David Cook) to his new album This Loud Morning, Cook has managed to hold on to loyal fans and at the same time spread his wings and become a greater musician and songwriter.

Click through to watch Cook perform “Paper Heart” and “The Last Goodby” off his new album, and listen to his comments during our exclusive and intimate interview, all captured live at the Street Date studios.

[pullquote quote=”I sucked for a long time. I was a terrible guitar player, for a LONG time.” credit=”David Cook”]He may have gotten a slow start on the guitar, but hard work and patience are hallmarks of [lastfm]David Cook[/lastfm]’s career and are the reason he’s made it this far. “An ominous undertaking” is how he refers to the process of selecting songs for This Loud Morning, revealing that he and his co-collaborators worked on 87 songs before whittling it down to the 12 that made it onto the album. One of those collaborators was songwriter and producer [lastfm]Ryan Tedder[/lastfm] (of rock band [lastfm]One Republic[/lastfm]) who co-wrote this touching ballad – click play below to watch Cook perform “The Last Goodbye,” one of the stand-out tracks on the new album.

“The Last Goodbye”

“I was in my first band at 15. I was on Idol at 25. So there’s a whole history before that that most people don’t know a lot about. It was my launching pad.” [lastfm]David Cook[/lastfm] knows that he is forever linked to American Idol and he embraces the benefits that the association brings. As for his new material, however, reality TV was the farthest thing from his mind when writing for This Loud Morning. Suffering from a major personal loss and struggling to find an outlet for his thoughts and feelings, Cook poured himself into the songwriting for the new album and dug deep to find the themes that meant the most to him. “Paper Heart” is another great example of the care and craftsmanship that went into this project. Hit play below to watch Cook perform the single.

“Paper Heart”

Get the scoop on [lastfm]David Cook[/lastfm]’s writing process and the stories behind these songs, in our exclusive interview below.

Exclusive Interview with [lastfm]David Cook[/lastfm]

You can find This Loud Morning by [lastfm]David Cook[/lastfm], available now at iTunes and Amazon.